Alberto Alonso, master teacher and international choreographer died Monday of heart failure at the age of 90.

Alonso was born in Havana, Cuba and was inspired by his mothers love for the arts and spent over half a century doing what he loved.

"He was a remarkable man. A great man, husband, father, grandfather. an exquisite artist, so many people admired him, a lot of dancers, artists, and the public, admired all over the world," says his wife Sonia Alonso.

Alora Haynes, Chair of the Fine Arts Program at Santa Fe Community College helped the great teacher come to the United States and at the age of 77, he took the opportunity to Work at Santa Fe CC.

Haynes worked alongside Michael Curry and others to put together a documentary about Alonso's life, titled "Dance Of My Heart." It's about the two loves in Alonso's life, dancing and his wife Sonia.

"I Loved him very much, one of our friends used to say that Romeo and Juliet love was nothing compared to ours," says Sonia Alonso.

Alonso became Cuba's first notable male dancer when he joined the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo.

He made his mark in ballet history as the first Non-Russian to ever choreograph for the Bolshoi Theatre in Carmen Suite, which is now one of Russia greatest loved ballets.

"He was a man that pushed to make things better, to better people, he was incredible, everyone that met him loved him," says Sonia Alonso.

His wife says there is not just one thing she will miss about her husband, she will miss everything.

A memorial service will take place at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home of Gainesville located at

404 North Main Street, on Saturday, January 5th at 11am.

Following the service, there will be a celebration of his life at 12:30pm at the Hippodrome State Theatre in Downtown Gainesville.